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So yesterday Errin and I headed over to American Fork Hospital for what was supposed to be our last check up with Maternal Fetal Medicine and our OB. These visits have become fairly routine in the last 6-7 weeks once Errin was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. Errin is a trooper and has done an amazing job keeping her blood sugars in check and trying to stay off her feet. That hasn't been easy since her biological urge to nest is at war with a body that has struggled to maintain its incubation duties. This whole experience deepens my respect for women (my lady in particular)...they have us dudes beat, hands down.

The news from the docs wasn't great, Errin's BP was high and probably only going to get higher. So our OB Dr. Watabe (who is rad by the way) said it was probably best to get that little sucker out before she could do any more damage. We opted to go the C Section route (there was a pretty good chance that if we induced that we would up down that road regardless). So around 5 pm on Tuesday Evie was excised from Errin with nary a problem.

As you can see from the pictures she has a ton of hair and is perfect in every way. We think we will keep her. Errin and Evie are both doing amazing. We will be in the hospital for a couple more days depending on how Errin heals.

We have had a couple of questions on the name. We hadn't kicked around too many names before I had the idea to give her our first initials. Errin liked it right away...and since we both have relatives named Eva it instantly made a lot of sense. Her middle name is Kate, a nod to my maternal grandmother Kathryn Soelberg. My little sister Kirsten (middle name Eva by the way) has a daughter named Daphne Ryn. Ryn is how my grandmother would sign her paintings. Now these two little gals will share Old Nana's name, which we think is pretty cool. So that is the story. She has two short names to make up for the fact that she will be saddled with Julkunen Pedersen.

             

Click here to download:

Introducing_the_incomparable_E.zip (2163 KB)

I don't want to get into all the medical details but suffice it to say that the last 24 hours or so have been a rollercoaster. As many of you know Errin and I are expecting our first child later this summer (like in 5 weeks, which is coming SO fast), and as some of you know Errin's 3rd trimester has been one fun surprise after another. Again, I would rather not get into all the details. Basically she needs to take it easy until Evie is ready to make her big debut.

So last night she wasn't feeling great (actually all day yesterday, but particularly last night). She decided to go to the hospital for a non-stress test. For all you gestational neophytes (read: males) a non-stress test is a pretty simple procedure where they strap some big electronic ears to Mommy's belly and listen for the baby's heart rate for 20-30 minutes. Errin does these a couple of times a week, and Evie has passed every test so far.

It should be noted here that this child is textbook, by-the-numbers perfect and pretty much has been that way this entire pregnancy. It is just unfortunate that she gets all her good health by sucking the life force out of her mother (they tell me I can expect that she will eventually move on to sucking the life force out of my wallet once she is out).

So last night's test was no different...this girl's ticker is like metronome. But Errin was still feeling awful (upset stomach, lower back ache, and fever). The doctor on call decided to give her some antibiotics thinking that it might be a kidney infection. As of right now (24 hours later) all signs still point to this. Errin has been a trooper all day. She put up with IVs and a sonogram, and the general suckiness of being in a hospital bed, and was finally rewarded for all her hard work with some Demerol. The fever seems to be better...so is everything else. As I write this I am hearing the consistant 150 BPM heart beat of Evie on the monitor.

So while things suck (particularly for Errin), they are also OK. Thanks to everyone for their concern. We have a healthy baby, a sick momma, and a lot of great friends and family.